Her Story Is Encouraging Others To Share Their Pregnancy Journeys After Miscarriage

"It still doesn’t feel real."

Photographer and self-love advocate Jenna Kutcher has been candid about her fertility struggles and pregnancy journey with her 550,000 Instagram followers. On June 3, the Duluth, Minn. blogger revealed that "after 2.5 years of struggle, loss, fear, faith, and hope, [she and her husband were] finally able to share the news that their double rainbow baby will arrive early December."

A "rainbow baby," according to Kicks Count, a pregnancy charity in the United Kingdom, is a baby that is born following a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, or infant loss. "In the real world, a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better," the charity explains. "... A rainbow baby brings light, but by no means replaces the angel baby."

Since her announcement, Kutcher has been documenting her pregnancy journey.

On July 27, she wrote a post about what it's like to experience pregnancy after miscarriage.

"It still doesn't feel real," she wrote. "Last night we were at dinner and the waiter asked if I wanted something to drink and my sister said, 'She's pregnant' and it took me a second to realize she was talking about me."

Kutcher had her 20-week ultrasound that day (a week late), and was emotional because she thought the pregnancy would start to feel "real" after the appointment and was concerned it wouldn't be the case.

"When you’ve been through loss and stopped dreaming, it’s really hard to break down the walls you built to protect yourself and allow yourself to really feel that joy," she explained. "Because deep down, you worry it will be ripped away again."

She and her husband were able to see their baby and got confirmation that it is healthy. Kutcher reveals that even as she wrote the message, she could "feel little kicks and jabs."

Kutcher said she hopes other people, who might be going through similar tough situations, know they're not alone on their journey. "If you're in a season of uncertainty or struggle, I want you to know this: there is more for you, your story doesn't end here. You will never be 'cured' from the pain you're walking through, but you will never, ever take a single day of joy for granted again."

She ended by encouraging others to open up about their stories with loss and pregnancy.

Many are sharing their congratulations and others are opening about miscarriages and rainbow babies.

"I know exactly that feeling," one Instagram user wrote. "[I] spent several visits so, so scared and then so, so relieved when baby was all good. So happy for you."

"I'm so happy that you got good news! I've had multiple losses and this is our rainbow baby as well. I'm 17 weeks in 2 days and having so much anxiety for our 20-week appointment to come," opened up one user. "I just want to hear our baby's heartbeat again. I've been so sick with morning sickness and then I was in the hospital due to a severe infection so I'm just so worried after being on so many medications something bad happened. It's scary. We also don't have any family that lives by, they're all states away so that's really tough."